For one thing , the film is like a fairy tale because many events in the film seem unlikely to have happened in real life . From the king of Mewar to have gone all the way to Singala in search of pearls demanded by his first wife only to fall in love with the princess ( who seems to be buddhist ) of that country , to him banishing a brahmin who goes all the way to Delhi to tell the sultan about the princess' beauty , and the sultan taking the king of Mewar prisoner in a lone meeting and taking him away to Delhi , to the princess going to Delhi to fetch the king back and conveniently being helped by the wife of the sultan---it all seems to be fantasy and legend . Of course , the story is based on a real invasion of sultan Allauddin Khilji on the great fortress of Chittor . The jauhar shown at the end may be real too ; after all , many times the rajput women committed jauhar when about to be captured . But the way the story has been built , it has seems to have many not too real happenings .

The other thing is that the film has been made clearly to make the right wing happy . The movie eulogises the rajput code of chivalry to a huge extent . The rajputs are shown to be noble warriors who never go against their principles and never back stab their enemies . Their bravery is shown to be exemplary even in face of incredible odds . Above all , the courage of their women is the stuff that legends are made of . When the rajput men are getting killed in battlefield , the women wear red dresses and leap into fire to be charred to ashes in order to prevent capture and violation of honour by enemy .

In contrast , the movie hardly shows the invading turks in a good light . Above all , their sultan Allauddin Khilji is shown having an evil gleam in his penetrating kohl lined eyes . He has been acted brilliantly by Ranveer Singh . His roar of laughter is full of fiendish cruelty and his dance is full of mad gusto . He is shown to be mean and treacherous and as crafty as hell . He chomps into pieces of meat like a barbarian and lusts for women like a debauchee . He is bisexual and has a gay lover---Malik Kafur played by Jim Sarbh .

On the other hand Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar is a gentleman . This gives less scope and range for acting to the person playing the role---Shahid Kapoor . Compared to Ranveer , his acting seems to be bland . Deepika Padukone pays the princess of Singala , who quickly upstages the first wife of Maharaja Ratan Singh to become chief queen of Mewar . Her acting becomes better with each passing frame and her last speech before committing jauhar did give me a small lump in my throat . Her beauty is mesmerising too , well worth an invasion or two on her kingdom for capturing her---for Allauddin invades Chittor again for her after she brings her husband back home .

Just like director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's earlier films , the distinguishing mark of the film is great cinematography and rich colours . Great attention seems to have been paid to the clothes of each and every person , from the plain clothes worn by soldiers to the bejewelled and embroidered clothes worn by the noble ladies and the queen . Fire plays an important role in the film ; fire in both hands of the queen of Mewar as she dances on the song 'ghoomar' , fire being drunk by the insulted brahmin as he is banished from Mewar , torches of fire lighting the walls of the fort of chittor , and the great fire into which the women are led by their queen when all is lost....

The battle scenes are decent without being too spectacular , with the one to one combat scene between the two kings being good . The stomp of the horses as they gallop on the battlefield pounds the ears in dolby atmos sound . Songs and background music is okay but not memorable . 3D effects are pretty good and add to the depth and clarity of the scenes . The film does drag towards the interval because it is almost three hours long , but post interval it again holds your attention .

Not in front of men other than her husband . but yes , in front of other ladies .

Then that is fine, however, Bhansali being from Rajasthan himself should have known better. Rajasthanis are very cultured and observe many customs that others don't anymore. They truly respect elders, knew a couple who would touch feet of IT employer.

I wasn't much interested in this movie and its happenings. But your review above, Ashpukhe pai, has inspired me now. Now I want to watch the movie... on the big screen. Only problem is the duration... saala 3 hours and my force becomes unbearable. I watched Bajirao on the big screen with utmost pain towards the end. And after Star Wars recently... to have another go... I just do not have the strength.

Really liked the way you described the bad guy... and fire. You have an excellent narrative, Ashkodhery pai... kudos

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"Kisi ne sahi kaha zindagi kutti cheez hai. You live life without a care in the world not realizing that life is building a heavy load of trash that it dumps on you one fine day, breaking your back." - saneless